100 Posts for Queen Elizabeth's Centenary

In celebration of the Centenary of Queen Elizabeth II's birth on April 21, 2026, here are 100 posts from my blog and others about Britain's longest lived monarch. I am sharing a post every hour on my Twitter and Bluesky feeds for 100 hours surrounding the moment of her birth (2:40 a.m. GMT+1) beginning on April 19 and continuing through April 23. #100HoursForQEII

Check back here as this list continues to grow up to 100!

Presidencia de la República Mexicana via Wikimedia Commons

FAMILY
Ancestors of Queen Elizabeth II on Unofficial Royalty
First Cousins: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on Unofficial Royalty
The Queen's Royal Ladies Part 1 on Princess Palace
The Queen's Royal Ladies Part 2 on Princess Palace
The Relationship Between Wallis and Queen Elizabeth II Part 1 on History of Royal Women
The Relationship Between Wallis and Queen Elizabeth II Part 2 on History of Royal Women

FASHION & JEWELS
All the Royal Jewels on Display on The Court Jeweller
Bonus Reading: Queen Elizabeth II's American President Jewels on The Court Jeweller
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara on Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor
A New Lilibet on Princess Palace
Platinum Queen 1926-2022: Childhood on Royal Hats
Platinum Queen 1926-2022: Working Princess on Royal Hats
Platinum Queen 1926-2022: Young Queen on Royal Hats
Princess Elizabeth's Iconic Wedding Tiara and Jewels on The Court Jeweller
Queen Elizabeth II Created This Tiara on Queens of England
The Queen's Top 10 Diamonds: #1 The Cullinan on Royal Order of Sartorial Splendors
The State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on New My Royals 
Sunday Brooch: The Maple Leaf on The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor
The Tiaras of Queen Elizabeth II on The Royal Watcher

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Born to Be King? on Princess Palace 
Elizabeth I or Elizabeth II in Scotland on Royal Musings
I Declare Before You All on Marilyn's Royal Blog
If The Queen Had Never Been Born on Princess Palace
A Royal Double Standard on Princess Palace 
Jubilee: A Message About Monarchy on Princess Palace
Long May She Reign on Princess Palace
Queen Camilla Sums Up Royal History on Royal Central
The Queen and the Papacy on Queens of England
Will The Queen's Legacy Be in What She Says or What She Does? on Marilyn's Royal Blog

HOMES
Looking Back at Queen Elizabeth's Houses on Architectural Digest
Queen Elizabeth II's Private Rooms at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on History of Royal Women
Windsor Castle Fire: 25 Facts on The History Press

1920s & 1930s
Birthplace of a Queen on Princess Palace
A New Princess Is Born on Princess Palace 
Revealed After 87 Years on Royal Musings

1940s & 1950s
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on Unofficial Royalty
Future Queen to Marry Naval Officer on Princess Palace
The Moonstruck Princess and Her Greek God, Part 1 on Princess Palace
The Moonstruck Princess and Her Greek God, Part 2 on Princess Palace
The Royal Visit of 1947 on Royal Musings 

1960s & 1970s
The "High Life" in High Society on Royal Rendezvous
The Queen Visits Her Dying Uncle on History of Royal Women

1980s & 1990s
Queen's 'Annus Horribilis' Speech, 1992 on The Royal Watcher

2000s
8 Things You Don't About The Queen's Death on Princess Palace 
Diamond Jubilee State Coach Makes Debut on Land of Analie
King Charles Commissions Official Queen Elizabeth II Biography on Royal Universe
Missing the Queen: One Year Later on Mandy on Monarchy
Peter Phillips Reveals the Royal Family All Had One Question on Royal Central
Queen Elizabeth Visited the Company of HMS Queen Elizabeth on New My Royals
A Resting Place Fit for a Queen on Marilyn's Royal Blog 

The Angel of Prussia

By Johann Friedrich August Tischbein
via Wikimedia Commons

There he was. The "Monster". The man who had bedeviled her country. The man who had forced her family from their home. Their five young children ripped from everything they had ever known. She was not here by choice. She would rather have never seen this bogeyman in person. And, yet, she believed she might make a difference, that she might save Prussia.

Beautiful Queen Louise of Prussia was 31 years old on the hot July day in 1807 when she stood face-to-face with Napoleon. The early months of her ninth pregnancy were hidden beneath the high waist of her fashionable gown, but no doubt the heat of that stormy summer and her pregnancy brought an additional glow to her already pretty face. Her beauty combined with her intelligence and charm were meant to distract the man who had crowned himself an emperor from dismantling Prussia after he destroyed the Prussian forces with surprisingly little effort.

Born on March 10, 1776, Louise of Mecklenburg-Stelitz had encouraged her husband, King Frederick William III of Prussia to declare war on the power-hungry French emperor, but he had hesitated. Frederick William believed that peace was the most important thing for people. As Napoleon waged war across Europe, Frederick William sought to stay out of the fight. Later, he wondered whether to fight with France or against. By the time he finally acted, the French had grown far too strong. Almost immediately, the Prussian army was destroyed at the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt. Napoleon quickly occupied Berlin and the royal family hastily fled into Russian territory placing themselves under the good graces of Emperor Alexander I, who also felt the sting of France that year. 

By summer, Napoleon summoned Frederick William to discuss terms at Tilsit, well within Russian territory. Frderick William, who loved his bright and beautiful wife, thought she could persuade Napoleon to show mercy to Prussia. And so, Louise made her case and perhaps flirted a bit with 37-year-old emperor. He wrote to his wife Josephine that she was a bit coquettish. However, he was impressed, as he later admiringly called her the "only real man in Prussia" and "my beautiful enemy." She calmly asked him to be lenient with her country and to give the monarchy a chance to rebuild so that her children would have a nation to inherit with pride.

Charmed though he was by this unexpected diplomacy, Napoleon was implacable. He showed no kindness to the Prussians, who could have fought on his side instead of against him. He stripped away all territory west of the Elbe River and Prussia's vast Polish territories, demanded financial indemnity, and forced the Prussians to pay the costs of the occupying French forces. 

Louise and Frederick William with five of their children

by Heinrich Anton Dähling via Wikimedia Commons

Although she had failed in her mission, it was a moment of triumph for Louise. Already admired by the nation for her modesty and virtue, her bravery placed her among the pantheon of beloved royal women. 

Unfortunately, her earthly glory was shortlived. Just three years after that fateful meeting, Louise died at the age of 34. No doubt worn by the stresses of war and defeat, the exhaustion of 10 pregnancies in 15 years, and the deaths of three of her children, Louise died in Frederick William's arms after an illness.

In memory of the woman he had decided to marry on first sight when she was just 17 and he was shy young man of 23, Frederick William created the Order of Louise, a chivalric honor reserved for women. Until the end of the Prussian (and then German) monarchy it was presented to female members of the family and foreign consorts and Queens Regnant.

Louise's legacy stretches far beyond the Order of Louise. Two of her sons became Kings of Prussia, with the second later becoming the first Emperor of Germany, for Prussia had been restored to power and glory after Napoleon's eventual defeat. Her daughter Charlotte married Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, changing her name to Alexandra. More broadly, she remains deeply revered in Germany and beyond. General Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher captured the national grief when he declared upon her death, "our angel is in heaven." Her admirers have continued to praise her over the centuries. Even seventy years after her death, a statue of her was raised in Berlin. In 1923, that admiration grew to cultlike status as the Queen Louise League, with an attached children's branch called Children Circle, was created to promote German nationalism. The league was initially welcomed by the growing Nazi movement but was eventually disbanded with its members integrated into organizations the Nazi party could more directly control.

Over the last century, Louise's story has been retold in many books and films, whether historical or fictional in nature. Today, she is compared to Princess Diana. Not only did she die tragically young like Diana, but one of Louise's first public acts confirmed her as a princess of the people. As a 17-year-old bride arriving to the joyful acclaim of the crowds in Berlin, Louise was noticed to bend down and pick up a child for a kiss. "All hearts go out to meet her!" it was declared. 

Thoughout her life and well beyond, only Napoleon's heart has been immune to Louise.

More About Louise
Consort Profile: Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on The Mad Monarchist
Death of the Most Famous Prussian Monarch on Deutschland Museum
Louise and Napoleon on Heritage History
Louise of Prussia on Heritage History
Louise zu Mecklemburg-Stelitz on Napoleon & Empire
Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Patriotic Queen of Prussia on Quello che Piace a Valeria
Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia on Unofficial Royalty
Luise, regierende Königin von Preussen (dedicated website)
Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen Louise of Prussia on Arrayed in Gold
Napoleon's Beautiful Enemy on Arrayed in Gold
The Life and Death of Louise of Prussia Part One on History of Royal Women
The Life and Death of Louise of Prussia Part Two on History of Royal Women
Queen Louise on Her-storic Royal Dress
Queen Louise on History's Women
Queen Louise on Napoleon.org
Queen Louise of Prussia on Louisa's Place
Queen Louise of Prussia, Part 1 - Mother of Her Nation on Napoleonic Impressions
Queen Louise of Prussia, Part 2- Standing Up to Napoleon on Napoleonic Impressions

Provocative Portraits

 As it turns out, 19th Century men also liked sexy portraits of their wives.  Thankfully, renowned royal portraitist Franz Xaver Winterhalter was around to capture that perfect, provocative image before photographs and selfies pushed portrait painting into a different realm. Winterhalter usually painted his royal ladies in grand style, looming large and gorgeous amidst a dramatic setting. For these two paintings, however, he evoked a more intimate image.

Still a newlywed in 1843, Queen Victoria commissioned this portrait for her beloved husband Prince Albert's 24th birthday present. The surprise was greatly appreciated, as Victoria recorded in her journal, "he thought it so like, & so beautifully painted. I felt so happy & proud to have found something that gave him so much pleasure." The painting hung in his writing room at Windsor so that he could look at as he worked. It was also recreated in miniature so that he could carry it with him.

Two decades later, Winterhalter painted a similarly personal portrait of 25-year-old Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Like Victoria and Albert, she and Emperor Franz Joseph were a love match. It is not surprising then that he also kept this portrait in his study so he could look at her when he worked. He had a great need to be able to see her image because, while Victoria and Albert were nearly inseparable, Elisabeth was always restless and frequently traveled leaving her husband at home alone. His loneliness for her was permanently imposed when she was assassinated by an anarchist in 1898. He outlived her by 18 years, but had this portrait to help him remember his beautiful and beloved wife.